Wahl was engaged withinterlinguistics from an early age. He was first introduced toVolapük by his father's colleagueWaldemar Rosenberger and even started to compose alexicon of marine terminology for the language, before turning toEsperanto in 1888. After the failure ofReformed Esperanto in 1894, of which Wahl had been a proponent, he started work to find an ideal form of an international language. In 1922, he published a "key" to a new language,Occidental, and the first edition of theperiodicalKosmoglott (laterCosmoglotta). Wahl developed the language over several decades on the advice of its speakers, but became isolated from the movement (then centred in Switzerland) from 1939 after the start of World War II.
Edgar von Wahl was a member of the Päinurmeline of the Wahl noble family. Edgar von Wahl's great-grandfather was Carl Gustav von Wahl, who acquired thePajusi,Tapiku andKavastumanors and was also the owner ofKaave Manor for a short time. Carl Gustav von Wahl had a total of 14 children from two marriages, from whom various Wahl lines descended.[1] Of them, Edgar von Wahl's grandfather Alexei von Wahl, a civil servant who boughtPäinurme manor in 1837, laid the foundation for the Päinurme line. In addition, he was a tenant atTaevere Manor, where Edgar's father Oskar von Wahl was born.[2]
Edgar Alexis Robert von Wahl was born on 23 August 1867[3] to Oskar von Wahl and Lydia Amalie Marie[4] (married 1866 in Tallinn),[5] in what is nowPervomaisk, Mykolaiv Oblast, in Ukraine (then in theKherson Governorate,Russian Empire).[b] The Wahl family had moved to Ukraine after his father, arailway engineer, started work on the Odesa–Balta–Kremenchuk–Kharkov railway in 1866.[7] By 1869, the Wahl family had moved toKremenchuk, where Wahl's brother Arthur Johann Oskar was born in 1870. After that, the family moved to Tallinn, where Wahl's two sisters were born – Lydia Jenny Cornelia in 1871 and Harriet Marie Jenny in 1873. The family later moved toSaint Petersburg where the third sister Jenny Theophile was born in 1877.[2]
Wahl grew up in Saint Petersburg. He began studying at the 3rdGymnasium in Saint Petersburg, graduating in 1886. He then studied at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at theUniversity of Saint Petersburg and architecture and painting at theSaint Petersburg Academy of Arts. While at university, Wahl joined the Baltic GermanNevania corporation [et] operating in St. Petersburg, where he served as treasurer in the autumn term of 1891. He graduated in 1891 and in 1893 received adiploma as a teacher of drawing at the Elementary School of the Academy of Arts.[8][9][10] He worked briefly as asubstitute teacher in Saint Petersburg in the autumn of 1891, before entering the navy.[11]
During his boyhood, Wahl learnt several languages; he became fluent inGerman,Russian,Estonian andFrench. In upper secondary school he studiedLatin andancient Greek, andSpanish at university.[8] In addition to these, throughout his life he was able to make himself understood in nine other languages. He had an interest increating languages from a young age:
Even in my youth, I had the idea of constructing a language. Full of stories fromCooper,Gustave Aimard etc, I playedAmerican Indians with my friends, and conceived the idea of a special quasi-Indian jargon for our games. It was made of Indian words taken from stories, and completed with other necessary words taken from diverse other languages. It had a grammar composed of mixed Ancient Greek and Estonian. This language was never used because my friends refused to learn it.[12]
In 1892, Wahl volunteered to serve in theRussian Navy. During his service, he travelled extensively, visiting theCaribbean islands and the United States among other places. In early 1894, he received the rank ofMichman (Russian:мичман) and retired shortly thereafter.[8] In the summer of 1904, Wahl was again called to active service. He served in theBaltic Fleet until October 1905, although he did not participate in the battles of theRusso-Japanese War.[13]
According to the memoirs of Estonian artistOlev Mikiver [et;sv], who knew Wahl as a youth, Wahl had been very proud of hisTsarist-era officer's uniform and he sometimes wore it even decades later:
E. von Wahl, incidentally, had been an officer in the tsar's navy at a young age and, according to his words, put down a sailor's rebellion at Sveaborg, Helsinki's military port or sea fortress, now called Suomenlinna, in 1905 or 1906. He must have considered this time sacred, because decades later, for example, at my sister's wedding, he appeared in a tsarist uniform.
It is, however, unlikely that Wahl participated in the suppression of theSveaborg rebellion, having already been released from service by then.[13] He may have been called to active service during World War I.[15]
Wahl's teaching style was described in the memoirs of the later Estonian Minister of EducationAleksander Veiderma, who himself studied at St Peter's High School of Science from 1906 to 1909:
Matemaatikat ja füüsikat õpetas veel Edgar von Wahl, endine mereväeohvitser, kellel oli alati varuks tabav märkus mõne sündmuse või isiku kohta. Ta oli kaunis räpakas füüsikakatsete korraldamisel: sageli murdusid riistad või purunesid klaasid. Tema suhtumine õpilastesse oli lihtne, mida kinnitab ka hüüdnimi Sass.
Mathematics and physics were also taught by Edgar von Wahl, a former naval officer who always had some catchy remarks about an event or person. He was very messy in conducting physics experiments: utensils or glass often broke. His attitude towards students was simple, which is also confirmed by the nickname Sass.
At the turn of the century, Wahl began to publish articles onlinguistics in specialized publications, as well as writing in various Tallinn newspapers and magazines.[20] Since 1898, Wahl had been a member of theEstonian Literature Society (German:Ehstländische Literärische Gesellschaft), a German-language association that regularly organised presentations by and for its members.[21] Under the pseudonym Julian Prorók, he published a bookletKetzereien: Keimzellen einer Philosophie (Heresies: Gametes of a Philosophy) in 1906 about his vision of global developments.[20][22]
Wahl also entered politics before the outbreak of World War I. In 1913, he was elected to theTallinn city council, and became a member of the council committee for the protection of monuments of ancient buildings. Despite his teaching position, Wahl did not address education issues on the city council. He was an active attendee at council meetings, but spoke little.[23]
After the start of World War I, the Germans living in the Russian Empire were subjected to repression, from which Wahl did not completely escape; theTallinn Noble Club [et], of which Wahl had been a member, was closed.[24] In autumn 1914, he found himself at the centre of a propaganda campaign to change German place names. As a city councillor, he participated in discussions on the renaming of the city of Tallinn,[c] following MayorJaan Poska's proposal replace its name with the Old Russian-languageKolyvan (in the discussion of the matter, the incorrect nameKalyvan was used). Wahl discovered that the oldest names of the city wereLedenets orLindanisa. He was interested in how much it would cost to change the name, which was said to have been met with "general laughter" at the council. The votes required to change the name were eventually reached by the council, but the change itself did not take place.[26]
Wahl was elected to the city council held just before theFebruary Revolution in 1917. On the new council, he became a member of the city's fire department, public education, andpawnshop affairs committees, and continued as a member of the committee for the protection of monuments of ancient buildings. However, in August 1917, a new council was elected, and Wahl's political activities ceased.[27]
In February 1918, at the time of theEstonian Declaration of Independence, Wahl expressed a desire to join the voluntary militiaOmakaitse. As a student who wrote weapon permits for volunteers: "Among those who wanted to bear weapons, I only remember one: my physics teacher, von Wahl. I think I remember it because of the mood that might have arisen in the soul of a young student when his teacher asks him for a weapon."[28]
In 1919, the Secondary School of Science was divided by language: the Tallinn High School of Science taught in Estonian and the Tallinn German High School of Science taught in German. Wahl continued as a professor at the latter, where he taught classes in mathematics, physics, geography,cosmography, and drawing.[29] He had a house on Eha Street, not far from the school, where students often went for follow-up work. He had designed this house in a marine style and it was therefore nicknamed the "cabin" by his students.[30][31] Among his students, Wahl was a popular teacher who was particularly dedicated to teaching geography since he had travelled extensively. The students were impressed by the fact that Wahl was a member of the English Club, which operated at the school.[32]
Wahl sometimes clashed with his colleagues, openly expressing his distaste for modern art, for instance comparing it tocommunism when invited to an art exhibition by the school's art teacher.[33] He retired in the mid-1920s, but continued to teach part-time until 1933. He then took up his hobbies, especiallyconstructed languages, which had become a passion since the days of Saint Petersburg.[34] Additionally, he was editor of the magazineEstländische Wochenschau [et] from 1929 to 1930.[35]
Unlike his relatives, Wahl did not leave to beresettled in Germany [et] in 1939, deciding to stay in Estonia. He represented the idealisticpan-European idea and did not like theNational Socialist government of Germany, calling it a "termite state". Wahl may also have chosen to stay to avoid abandoning his large archive. The danger of ending up in a retirement home in Germany might also have played a role: this had happened to several of his acquaintances.[35][36] Wahl again avoided thesecond resettlement [et] to Germany that took place in the winter and early spring of 1941. He was certainly aware of the opportunity to leave, for when asked about his plans by one of his former students, he replied, leaving no doubt that his decision was stay in Estonia:
This Hitler, this madman, forbids my language in all the countries he conquers. This guy is crazy!
In the first year of Soviet rule in Estonia (1940-1941) Wahl managed to escape any repressions, although some of his relatives were arrested. After the beginning of theGerman occupation of Estonia, he was suspected of anti-state activities. Wahl was arrested on 12 August 1943, because of letters sent to Posen, to his wife's sister-in-law, that were caught by the censors inKönigsberg in July of that year. In these letters, he had predicted the outbreak of an uprising in Poland and advised the family who lived there to go to Germany:[36][38]
after the dissolution of Bolshevism, around 1944, when the German-Allied forces approach from the north to dangerous Asia Minor to suppress the Arab uprising, but not before, it is highly likely that by withdrawing troops from the lands conquered by Germany, the Poles will try to start an uprising (they already have secret weapons camps), and then the long-running hate may turn into a especially ruthless massacre in old Polish villages and mansions which threatens the Balts. Therefore I want to warn you and everyone else in the same situation and ask you to leave Wartegau if possible, or at least any means of escape when the Arab uprising breaks out. Deploy the Reich in time. I ask that this letter, which I have written to you now, in July 1943, be preserved as a document and, if possible, given to others to look at.
— Letter from Edgar von Wahl to Lieselotte Riesenkampff in Tallinn on July 18, 1943[39]
In the same letter, Wahl noted that he had previously predicted theattack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequentoutbreak of war between the United States and Japan. During the interrogation Wahl did not deny what he had written, and repeated several of the accusations he had made, "firmly believing" in the veracity of his predictions. He was held for some time in the Tallinn "labour and education camp", but the testimony given during his interrogation was considered strange by theSicherheitsdienst, and so Wahl was sent to be examined at theSeewald mental hospital [et]. There he was diagnosed withdementia caused by ageing and left in the Seewald hospital, which also saved him from a possible death penalty. Wahl was defended by several close relatives and friends who claimed that he was not responsible for his actions.[36][40]
During thebombing raid in March 1944, Wahl's house, including his archive collection, was destroyed, which came as a great shock to him. Three years later, in a letter to the Finnish OccidentalistArmas Ramstedt, he recalled that what had happened was a real disaster, during which many irreplaceable and unique materials were lost.[40]
In August 1945,Deportation of Germans from Estonia after World War II [et] of theGermans still living in Estonia by the SovietNKVD took place. The list of people to be deported included Wahl's name. At the time of the deportation, however, he was among a dozen people who were not deported or whose whereabouts could not be determined. Although the reasons for Wahl's escape are not known, in some cases the head of the task force that carried out the deportation made the decision not to take the seriously ill or disabled, so the decision may have been influenced by the opinion of the hospital staff. Therefore, it was his presence in a mental hospital that saved Wahl for a second time.[41][42]
During and after the world war, his foreign colleagues had very little information about Wahl's condition and whereabouts; only in the spring of 1946 was Armas Ramstedt able to restore contact with him.[43] It is unclear why the hospital staff at Seewald enabled such correspondence; perhaps that they may have recognized his dedication to linguistics when being supportive to his communication with the outside world.[41]
Wahl died on 9 March 1948.[44] He was buried on 14 March 1948 at theSiselinna Cemetery in Tallinn.[45] In 1996, his remains were moved to thePajusi manor cemetery, the family cemetery of thevon Wahl family.[46]
Wahl's efforts to create a new and ideal language for international communication began with a general interest in artificial languages in the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He first became interested in the recently-createdVolapük in 1887 being introduced to the language by his father's colleague,Waldemar Rosenberger, in Saint Petersburg. He became an active advocate of Volapük, receiving the title "Teacher of Volapük" and started to compile a maritime lexicon in Volapük (although this project was never completed). In early 1888, he was introduced to Esperanto and switched to it.[47]
Estonian linguistPaul Ariste has written that Wahl quickly became an advocate of Esperanto's creator,ophthalmologistL. L. Zamenhof, and his work after becoming acquainted withUnua Libro, the firstEsperanto textbook (published in 1887).[48] He soon influenced the earlygrammar of Esperanto and its vocabulary.[49] Wahl was also one of the founders ofEspero, Russia's first Esperanto society founded in Saint Petersburg in 1891, and became a correspondent for the magazineLa Esperantisto. He translated Russian fiction into Esperanto and compiled an Esperanto-Spanish dictionary.[48][50]
However, Wahl did not align himself definitively to Esperanto, beginning the search for a new artificial language:
He had a restless character, always something new. Because of this trait, when he was younger, he had been increasingly inclined to advocate new designs for artificial languages [...]
According to EstonianEsperantistJaan Ojalo [eo], Wahl moved away from Esperanto afterproposals to reform the language (of which Wahl was heavily in favour, having proposed some himself)[47] were rejected by most Esperantists in 1894.[51] In Ojalo's view, he also considered Esperanto to be an "a priori" language (original, unlike more naturalistic languages, such asEuroclones). He concluded that the ideal international language should be more naturalistic and understandable even to those who had not learnt it. Wahl also considered Esperanto too democratic, which threatened Western culture.[51]
Wahl took the first steps to create a new language in the last years of the 19th century. In 1896 and 1897 he published two articles in theHanover-based magazineLinguist, in which he presented his ideas. Around the same time, Waldemar Rosenberger, who was at the time president of theVolapük Academy, introduced academy members to a new language of his own creation,Idiom Neutral. From 1906 onwards, Rosenberger also published the magazineProgress, wherein Wahl made his own proposals for reforms to the language, which Rosenberger adopted a year later in 1907. Despite the reform, the Idiom Neutral did not gain popularity. Concurrently, he developed a newinternational auxiliary language, based on theRomance languages, calledAuli, an acronym forAuxiliari Lingue International in that language (English:International auxiliary language), which would later become the intermediate stage of Occidental. Wahl introducedAuli in 1909 in the journalAcademia pro Interlingua – Discussiones. In 1911, he formulated theword formation rule (known asDe Wahl's rule) that would form the basis of Occidental.[52][53]
Occidental's symbol, depicting an encircledtilde, was introduced before 1934 and was selected from several variants for its simplicity and symbolism.[54]
First issue of magazineKosmoglott published in February 1922
In 1916, Russian artificial language enthusiasts founded theKosmoglot Association in Saint Petersburg. Edgar von Wahl was not one of its founders, but later joined, as did the Estonian linguistJakob Linzbach. Wahl became a spokesman for the "naturalistic school" of the association; thus paving the way for the creation of Occidental. Withthe revolutionary events of 1917 and the departure of its members from Saint Petersburg, the association's activities faded away, ending entirely in 1921, but picking up again in Tallinn in the same year. The association's activities were revived by Wahl together with Linzbach, and the association's name was changed toKosmoglott. Ties were maintained with the former members of the association, which operated in several European countries. Wahl was also the editor of theKosmoglott magazine published by the association from 1922 to 1926. In its first issue, Wahl introduced the artificial language he created, Occidental. From 1923 to 1928, he also promoted the language in the serialOccidental, unic natural, vermen neutral e max facil e comprensibil lingue por International relations. Wahl published a book in 1925 titledRadicarium directiv del lingue International (Occidental) in8 languages.[55][56][57]
Occidentalists in Vienna in 1927: from left to right Hanns and Johann Robert Hörbiger, Engelbert Pigal and Edgar de Wahl
The first issue of the magazineKosmoglott contained a letter sent to theLeague of Nations on 5 September 1921, recommending the introduction of a perfect language which would be easily acquired, not necessarily the most common planned language, for the communication between peoples. In order to find a suitable language, it was recommended that a competition be held and that the candidates be evaluated by a committee of experts convened by the League of Nations. The proposal was not taken up for consideration in the League of Nations.[58][59]
Despite this failure, the Occidental language attracted interlinguists; in particular enthusiasts ofIdo (the Esperantists remained faithful to their language). According to Ariste, internal disputes amongst the Idists and a personal appeal by Wahl led many to promote the language.[48] In tandem with the growth of the language's popularity, the activity ofKosmoglott association diminished, and the December 1928 an event in commemoration of Waldemar Rosenberger, who had died 10 years earlier, took place being the last bigger event of the society.[60]
Edgar de Wahl (left) and Otto Jespersen
However, during the 1920s, new Occidental societies emerged. In 1927, the International Cosmoglotta Association was founded, which a year later was renamed Occidental-Union. Starting in 1927,Kosmoglott began to be published in Vienna (instead of Tallinn) under the new nameCosmoglotta. In the last issue published in Tallinn, Wahl published, among other things,Koidula's poem under the title "Max car donation" (Dearest Gift). The success of the new language brought international renown to Wahl. Hespoke publicly in various European countries and communicated closely with linguists. In 1939, he was likely the only Estonian to be invited to the5th Linguistic Conference in Brussels.[35][61] During these times he was in active discussions with the Danish linguist and author of another planned languageNovialOtto Jespersen which culminated in their meeting and the publication of its results as a separate book.[62][63] However, unlike Jespersen, Wahl was an amateur linguist. His linguistic activities never reached broader theoretical linguistic problems, but were limited to constructing his own artificial language and tackling related issues.[64]
Although Occidental showed significant success in the late 1920s and in 1930s, it never achieved the popularity of Esperanto. Unlike Esperanto, which became a popular language among labour movements, Occidental speakers in the interwar period were predominantly Western European intellectuals.[48] Later, near and after Wahl's death, discussions started among Occidentalists about whether to change the name of the language.Ric Berger, a leading Occidentalist from Switzerland, cited reports from theEastern Bloc that the name Occidental was a hindrance to promoting the language. Berger had also become fond of the languageInterlingua that was nearing publication,[65] and he began envisioning a possible fusion between the two languages.[66] These two factors convinced Berger to begin advocating the new nameInterlingue in February 1948.[67] The change in name took effect in October of the following year,[68] and the Occidental-Union became theInterlingue-Union, as it is today. The association has its own academy and the magazineCosmoglotta continues to be published by the association.[69]
Edgar von Wahl married Maria von Hübbenet (the daughter of Grand DuchessMaria Pavlovna's personal physician), in Saint Petersburg in 1894. They had five children: Johann or Hans, Guido, Ellen, Anatol, and Lydia Maria. The marriage was dissolved in 1913, after which Johann, Guido and Lydia stayed with Edgar while Anatol stayed with his mother, who moved to Finland, and some time later Lydia Maria also went there. Wahl's two eldest sons moved to Germany at the start of World War I, where they served in the army. Guido spent a short vacation in Tallinn during theGerman occupation of Estonia during World War I, but at the end of 1918 he disappeared.[70] According to one source he died in a battle with the BolshevikRed Army nearTukums,Latvia in 1919.[71]
In 1914, Edgar von Wahl married Agnes Riesenkampff. Like her husband, Agnes was a teacher, teaching gymnastics in Tallinn.[72] In 1917, their daughter Veronika was born.[73] The fate of Agnes was unclear for a long time. In 1946 it was suggested that she disappeared duringthe forced migrations of June 1941,[74] but now it is known that she was arrested and shot by theNKVD in 1941.[75]
In addition to linguistics, Wahl was a hobby sailor. In 1895, he became a member of theEstonian Imperial Maritime Yacht Club [et], and in the following years was an active member, joining its technical committee and being the secretary of the club. He produced a yearbook dedicated to the club's 25th anniversary in 1913. In 1922, Wahl became an honorary member of the club. He owned severalyachts over the years, one of which, aketch calledAuli, he is said to have designed himself.[76]
^InGerman personal names,von is apreposition which approximately means 'of' or 'from' and usually denotes some sort ofnobility. Whilevon (always lower case) is part of the family name or territorial designation, not a first or middle name, if the noble is referred to by their last name, useSchiller,Clausewitz orGoethe, notvon Schiller, etc.
^It is disputed whether Wahl was born in the town of Oliviopol (Ukrainian:Ольвіополь), or the nearby village Bohopil (Ukrainian:Богопіль),[3][5][6] across theSouthern Bug river.Wahl's birth certificate states that he was born in Bohopil, but the accuracy of it can be doubted.
^Tallinn is the name of the city in the Estonian language; throughout most of the city's history, it was known by the Germanic nameReval.[25]
^Must, Aadu (2014). "Privilegeeritust põlualuseks: baltisaksa ühiskonnategelaste represseerimine Esimese maailmasõja ajal.". In Tannberg, Tõnu (ed.).Esimene maailmasoda ja Eesti (in Estonian). Tartu. pp. 30–31, 33.ISBN978-9985-858-90-5.OCLC913774896.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^N. Rg. Koolipoisid. Isiklikke mälestusi meie iseseisvuse saabumispäevadelt [Personal Memoirs from the days of the beginning of our independence] (in Estonian). –Kaitse Kodu 1934, nr 4, p. 135.
^Edgar Wahli kiri Lieselotte Riesenkampffile Tallinnas, 18. juulil 1943 [Letter from Edgar von Wahl to Lieselotte Riesenkampff in Tallinn on July 18, 1943] . InAjalooline Ajakiri [et]} 2016 (2), pp. 310–311 (in Estonian), tr. Reet Hünerson.
Karmo, Märt (2011).Must-kuldne müts me peas ... I, Tallinna Reaalkool 1917-1920 [Black-golden hat in our head ... I, Tallinn Secondary School of Science 1917-1920] (in Estonian).Tallinna Reaalkool.
Karmo, Märt (2019).Must-kuldne müts me peas ... II, Tallinna Reaalkool 1920-1940, Saksa Reaalkool 1919-1939 [Black-golden hat in our head ... II, Tallinn Secondary School of Science 1920-1940] (in Estonian). Reaali Kirjastus.
Veiderma, Aleksander (2000).Elu hariduse radadel: mälestused [Life on the Paths of Education: Memories] (in Estonian). Tallinn. p. 141.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
von Harpe, Ena;von Wahl, Dieter, eds. (1995).Erlebtes Livland: Die Familie v. Wahl 1795–1993 [Experienced Livonia: The von Wahl Family 1795–1993] (in German). Weißenhorn. pp. 241–244.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
